Public Document Pack Tony Kershaw County Hall Director of Law and Assurance Chichester West Sussex If calling please ask for: PO19 1RQ Switchboard Sally Manning on 033 022 23883 Tel no (01243) 777100 Email: [email protected] www.westsussex.gov.uk 10 October 2019 Environment, Communities and Fire Select Committee A meeting of the committee will be held at 2.00 pm on Monday, 21 October 2019 at County Hall, Chichester. Tony Kershaw Director of Law and Assurance The meeting will be available to view live via the Internet at this address: http://www.westsussex.public-i.tv/core/portal/home Agenda 2.00 pm 1. Declarations of Interest Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personal interest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it. If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting. 2.01 pm 2. Urgent Matters Items not on the agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances, including cases where the Committee needs to be informed of budgetary or performance issues affecting matters within its terms of reference, which have emerged since the publication of the agenda. 2.02 pm 3. Minutes of the last meeting (To Follow) The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 20 September 2019 – to follow. 2.03 pm 4. Response to Highways England's Further Non-statutory Consultation on Options for the A27 Arundel Bypass (Pages 5 - 66) Report by Lee Harris, Executive Director Place Services and Page 1 Matt Davey, Director for Highways, Transport and Planning. The report sets out the County Council’s draft response to Highways England’s consultation options for the A27 at Arundel. The Committee is asked to preview and consider the content of the draft and provide the Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure with comments and observations. 4.35 pm 5. Requests for Call-in There have been no requests for call-in to the Select Committee and within its constitutional remit since the date of the last meeting. The Director of Law and Assurance will report any requests since the publication of the agenda papers. 4.36 pm 6. Forward Plan of Key Decisions (Pages 67 - 82) Extract from the Forward Plan dated 8 October. An extract from any Forward Plan published between the date of despatch of the agenda and the date of the meeting will be tabled at the meeting. The Committee is asked to consider whether it wishes to enquire into any of the forthcoming decisions within its portfolio. 4.40 pm 7. Possible Items for Future Scrutiny Members to mention any items which they believe to be of relevance to the business of the Select Committee, and suitable for scrutiny, e.g. raised with them by constituents arising from central government initiatives etc. If any member puts forward such an item, the Committee’s role at this meeting is just to assess, briefly, whether to refer the matter to its Business Planning Group (BPG) to consider in detail. 4.41 pm 8. Date of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 7 November at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester. Probable agenda items include: - Electric Vehicle Strategy Exploitation Strategy Highways Maintenance Contract – Update Restructure of Highways, Transport and Planning Review of Major Projects Cost Estimating Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by 23 Page 2 October. To all members of the Environment, Communities and Fire Select Committee Webcasting Please note: this meeting may be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the County Council’s website on the internet - at the start of the meeting the Chairman will confirm if all or part of the meeting is to be filmed. The images and sound recording may be used for training purposes by the Council. Generally the public gallery is not filmed. However, by entering the meeting room and using the public seating area you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings for webcasting and/or training purposes. Page 3 This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 4 Environment, Communities and Fire Select Committee 21 October 2019 Response to Highways England’s Further Non-statutory Consultation on Options for the A27 Arundel Bypass Report by Director of Law and Assurance Summary The Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure proposes to take a decision in October 2019 on the Council’s response to the Highways England consultation on options for the A27 Arundel Bypass. The proposed decision was first published in the Forward Plan in August 2019. The draft report for the proposed decision is attached. Focus for scrutiny The Committee is invited to: a) Consider and comment on the extent to which the proposed response addresses the issues raised through the consultation. b) Consider the robustness of the assumptions made in preparing the Council’s analysis of each of the six assumptions. c) Consider how well the proposed response has been guided by the West Sussex Transport Plan objective to improve the quality of life for West Sussex residents by: • promoting economic growth • tackling climate change • providing access to services, employment and housing • improving safety, security and health The Chairman will summarise the output of the debate for consideration by the Committee. Details The background and context to this item for scrutiny are set out in the attached reports (listed below), including resource and risk implications, Equality, Human Rights, Social Value, Sustainability and Crime and Disorder Reduction Assessments. Tony Kershaw Director of Law and Assurance Contact Officer: Ninesh Edwards: [email protected] Page 5 Agenda Item 4 Appendices Appendix 1: Response to Highways England’s Further Non-statutory Consultation on Options for the A27 Arundel Bypass – Draft Decision Report Background papers None Page 6 Agenda Item 4 Appendix 1 Roger Elkins, Cabinet Member for Highways & Ref No: Infrastructure October 2019 Key Decision: Yes Response to Highways England’s Further Non- Part I statutory Consultation on Options for the A27 Arundel Bypass Report by Lee Harris, Acting Chief Executive and Electoral Matt Davey, Director for Highways, Transport and Division(s): Planning Arundel & Courtwick, Fontwell Summary In March 2015, the Government published its first Roads Investment Strategy (RIS1), which included a commitment to improve the A27 at Arundel towards the end of Roads Period 1 (2015-20). In 2017, Highways England consulted on three options for the A27 Arundel Bypass and in May 2018, it announced that its preferred route was a modified version of Option 5A. Following more detailed surveys and technical work that resulted in changes to the design of the scheme, Highways England decided to conduct further non-statutory consultation on options in autumn 2019. The County Council is only a consultee in the decision-making process. Technical assessments of the proposals have been published by Highways England and these have been reviewed by officers to inform preparation of a Consultation Response (attached as Appendix B) that includes comments on the transport, economic, social and environmental impacts of the options. Overall, it is considered that the environmental impacts of Option 4/5AV1 (Magenta), if appropriately mitigated, are likely to be significantly outweighed by the substantial transport, economic and social benefits of this option over the longer term. Therefore, provided that a detailed and high quality package of environmental mitigation measures is delivered as part of the scheme, Option 4/5AV1 (Magenta) should be the County Council’s preferred option for an Arundel Bypass. This is because it is the best performing option and it represents the best fit with the strategic outcomes that the Authority is seeking for the A27. However, even though they do not offer the best balance between traffic, economic and social benefits and environmental impacts, it is considered that Options 4/5AV2 (Amber) and 5BV1 (Grey), if appropriately mitigated, would also deliver the County Council’s strategic objectives and, therefore, they should be the County Council’s second and third preferences respectively. Once all consultation responses have been analysed by Highways England, a Preferred Route will be announced in 2020. Statutory consultation on the Preferred Route will then take place as part of the Development Consent Order process. Following examination, the decision to grant development consent will be taken by the Secretary of State. Page 7 Agenda Item 4 Appendix 1 Separate consultations have already taken place on improvements to the A27 at Chichester, and Worthing and Lancing. West Sussex Plan: Policy Impact and Context The County Council’s West Sussex Transport Plan 2011-26 identifies improvements to the A27 trunk road and complementary public transport improvements to address the current bottlenecks at Chichester, Arundel, and Worthing as the highest priority. Submitting a County Council response to the consultation on options is expected to help facilitate the implementation of an A27 Arundel Bypass by demonstrating that the scheme is supported by a key local stakeholder. Financial Impact There are no financial implications in making this response. Recommendations That the Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure approves the Consultation Response (Appendix B) for submission to Highways England. Proposal 1. Context 1.1 In March 2015, the Government published its first Roads Investment Strategy (RIS1), which included a commitment to improve the A27 at Arundel towards the end of Roads Period 1 (2015-20).